I've been riding for a a while now on my elderly Apollo III, which is a good bike, but I can see a lot of it coming apart at the seams, with the frame starting to show some signifcant rust, the brakes feeling a bit distant, even with my best adjustments, and hesitation from the derailers/shifters in jumping up and down the gears. It's also annoying not being ale to match into a shop be sure of finding a tire, as I've found that supplies of the old imperial measured tires are a bit slim at times. In essence, I'm kinda looking for something a bit newer, but still not too flash.

What I want is a basic road bike with:
â€¢drop bars,
â€¢Shimano STI shifters,
â€¢preferably all-alloy,
â€¢for around $900.
I'd prefer new, but a decent second hand would suffice.

Currently, I've got in my sights a Cell S3300, which I like, as it's Australian built and quite cheap.

There's also a Malvern Star road bike which I saw in Cycle Hub in Wollongong, carbon forks, STI gears for $750 (can't remember the name of it for the life of me though )

McPete wrote:Am I? I was under the impression that the frame is Australian made.

The frame is almost certainly not Australian made however it is possible that the bike is built (assembled) locally. This is not a bad thing, even most of the well known US brands are made in Tiawan with the exception of the most expensive top of the range models. I think Cell may also be Australian owned. The only frames I am aware of that are made in Australia are very small scale productions which make custom made frames.